Politics and Culture

November 25, 2007

The Big White Chief

RW Johnson with some interesting - and controversial - reflections on Ian Smith:

Just before the last presidential election in 2002, Smith said to me: “If Mugabe and I walk together into a black township, only one of us will come out alive. I’m ready to put that to the test right now. He’s not.”

It's quite common in African countries to hear older blacks saying that things were better when the British ruled. Certainly, that was my experience but I don't think they were arguing for a return to minority rule.

That's a bizarre link from Looking Ahead. Carter gets the blame for forcing Smith to yield to Mugabe. No Callaghan, Thatcher, Muzorewa or Carrington. No mention of lifting sanctions during the interim Zimbabwe Rhodesia diversion.